by Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY

by Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY

Ready to rock: Throw those White Knuckles in the air: Five Finger Death Punch is hitting the road. The heavy metal all-stars kick off their summer shows Saturday at Monster Energy's Fort Rock in Fort Myers, Fla., the first of 16 rock festivals they'll play in the USA through July 19.

Keep it interesting: The Las Vegas-based band consists of singer Ivan Moody, drummer Jeremy Spencer, guitarist Zoltan Bathory, guitarist Jason Hook, and bassist Chris Kael. When it comes to playing shows, the group likes to switch up its set list: If they're playing with other heavy metal bands, they might lean toward heavier songs such as Dying Breed or War Is the Answer; if it's a radio fest, they'll play more popular tracks such as House of the Rising Sun and Under and Over It. "When you play your own shows, you have to cater to the fans that are coming to see you and only you," Bathory says. "When you play a festival, you have to put together a set that works for an audience that may have never heard your music."

Domino's effect: When traveling from city to city, the Five Finger guys find different ways to kill time on the bus: Spencer watches sports, while Hook watches the History Channel ("It bores me to tears, but he's into it," Spencer says). Bathory brings mats along so he can practice jiu jitsu, an effort to stay fit that is often challenging. "When you're out on the road, especially if you're a headliner, you'll come offstage at 11 o'clock at night, and chances are you're not going to find anything healthy at that hour. That's where the Domino's pizza comes in," he says. Although it's easy for him to gain five or 10 pounds while touring, "I come home and I drop it within the first week."

Close quarters: Living on the road, "you become really familiar with people's social habits and everything they do," Bathory says. Spencer and Cook are the early risers, up at 6 a.m. every day in search of the nearest Starbucks, while Bathory rolls out of bed by 10. And Moody? Don't expect to see him before 3 p.m. As much fun as it is to play shows, they acknowledge that it gets difficult being away from home roughly 250 to 300 days a year. "No matter how great you get along, when you're in a tube together for months at a time, everything starts to get on your nerves - even the way somebody chews their cereal," Spencer says. "But we love each other and respect each other's boundaries, so that's just part of the deal."

Chilled out: Back when they were starting out, "there was nothing on the (tour) rider but booze," Spencer says. "But now that we've chilled out, grown up a bit and gotten that out of our system, it's a lot more healthy stuff," including coconut water, fruits, almonds and protein shakes. "Stuff to take care of your body with, more so than to pollute it."

Not very 'metal band': While they have no specific pre-show rituals as a group, everyone has a certain routine. Spencer stretches for about an hour before every show, whether that means lying on hard-foam rollers or doing yoga. "I know that doesn't sound very heavy metal band, but in order to pull off the physicality of what we do, I need to do that stuff," he says. Moody becomes a "nervous ball of energy" before every show and is unable to eat. "Sometimes he vomits on us, actually," Spencer says.

Leg up: If you've ever been to a Five Finger show, you know that it gets rowdy, with throngs of adrenalized fans moshing and rushing the barricades in front of the stage. But there's one memorable experience that has a leg up on the others: "Somebody took off their prosthetic leg and handed it up to us and wanted us to sign it while we were playing," Spencer says. "Ivan signed it with a Sharpie and handed him his leg back. I'll never forget that."

Clear for launch: Reflecting on their near 10 years together - with plans for a U.S. headlining tour this fall and more music beyond that - Bathory says they've been successful because they don't sweat the little things. "Arguing over whether a guitar solo should be four bars or six bars? In the big picture, that doesn't matter," he says. "Of course, you're all trying to make the music better, but if you get into trivial arguments, it scars people on a personal level." It's the kind of astronomical bond that knows no boundaries - even the Earth's atmosphere. "If NASA wanted to send somebody to Mars, this is it. Pick a band," he says. "We've been on the road together for a long time. You really have to learn to live together and understand that everything you do will affect the other guys. It's astronaut training."